10 Best dishes to try at new Naples, Marco Island and Bonita Springs restaurants

10 Best dishes to try at new Naples, Marco Island and Bonita Springs restaurants

Editor’s note: Condensed from JLB review on naplesnews.com. See the original mouthwatering photos and complete descriptions along with contact info for the restaurants.

Diana Biederman | Naples Daily News

This week, we’re rounding up JLB’s top 10 favorite dishes from Naples, Marco and Bonita’s new restaurants.

For those of you counting, we also list two honorable mentions whose inclusions come with caveats: one is new-ish to me, and maybe you too, but we’ve not featured it in the paper. The other features rotating menus, less an issue for summer, but when it first opened, its offerings varied weekly and by day.

Restaurants are listed alphabetically, not preferentially.

Boutique Sweet Couple
The dish: Hazelnut dacquoise, aka Kyiv cake, $15
Kyiv cake is a less refined version of a hazelnut dacquoise; most versions have two layers of baked nut meringue; French dacquoise usually three or four layers.

Casa Cotzelli
The dish: Spaghetti burro alici, $18
Sometimes, the simplest thing on the menu is the best. Spaghetti tossed with anchovy butter might be the comfort dish of the year.

Casa Neri
The dish: Salumi di Mare, $26 for a small size
…slices of succulent smoked swordfish, smoked tuna plus a beet juice-citrus marinated salmon…

DiGusto
The dish: Burrata, prosciutto and arugula salad, $22
Aside from vegans, who doesn’t love billowy burrata?

Fernweh Ice Cream
The dish: “Blueberry Vineyard” sorbet infused with wine, $10
Fernweh is different because it handcrafts each sophisticated flavor daily using premium ingredients, and you can taste the difference.

Kim-Chi Grill
The dish: Chicken bulgogi, $18
After biting each of the six components in this bowl ― all stand-alone delicious ― I broke the perfectly poached egg then slathered it over the rice..

The Med
The dish: Octopus a modo mio, $22
Meltingly tender and served in a sumptuous well-balanced puttanesca sauce chockful of the sea creature,

Old Vines Supper Club
The dish: Potato-crusted crab salad
If you see this dish posted as a course, book a reservation.

Ori’s Bakery & Cafe
The dish: Breakfast empanada, $4.50
Everything is baked from scratch and served fresh from the oven by Ori Reed

PJK Neighborhood Chinese
The dish: Dan Dan noodles, $24
Spicy but not incendiary and served in a gorgeous Instagrammable bowl that we were told was designed exclusively for PJK.

Wolfmoon
The dish: Vegetarian croque monsieur, $18
… delectable grilled-cheese-ish sandwich. Did I mention the from-scratch bread baked with premium flour

Yacht Club Subs
The dish: Waldorf chicken salad minnow, $12
Oh that bread! Each bite was better than the next but don’t just take my word for it.

Do you want to find a home near these wonderful restaurants? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

NABOR Market Report | June 2023

NABOR Market Report | June 2023

Naples Housing Market Prime for Summer Buyers

Naples, Fla. (July 21, 2023) – Broker analysts reviewing the June 2023 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), believe a surge in summer travel contributed to the reduction in home sales in Naples during June. The report showed a 13.6 percent decrease in overall closed sales for the month to 837 closed sales from 969 closed sales in June 2022. Though the dip in closed sales appears temporary and may not linger into July’s closed sales data as overall pending sales (homes under contract) in June increased 0.8 percent to 800 pending sales from 794 pending sales, and June’s showings increased slightly from showings reported in June 2022. Fortunately, slow sales in June did not impact home prices as the median closed price reported in June increased 0.4 percent to $602,494 from $600,000 in June 2022.

Overall inventory continues to rise compared to 2022 levels. June had an 8.2 percent increase in overall inventory to 2,659 homes from 2,457 homes. But according to the area’s top brokers, this increase was due to low sales for the month and not because of new listings, which decreased 28.2 percent to 860 new listings from 1,198 new listings in June 2022.

The NABOR® June 2023 Market Report provides comparisons of single-family home and condominium sales (via the Southwest Florida MLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an overall market summary. NABOR® sales statistics are presented in chart format, including these overall (single-family and condominium) findings for 2023:NABOR Market Report June 2023 chart“Travel is the elixir that will make people feel inspired to buy again once they return home from summer vacations,” said Cindy Carroll of Carroll & Carroll Appraisers & Consultants, LLC. “It’s been 15 months since the market peaked [December 2021]. We’ve been through a pandemic and hurricane and still the monthly reports fail to indicate a market correction will happen anytime soon as median and average closed prices continue to hold steady.”

 

Breeze Airways expanding routes to RSW

Breeze Airways expanding routes to RSW

Breeze Airways increasing Southwest Florida footprint in a big way. See new options coming.

Mark H. Bickel | Fort Myers News-Press

Options are a good thing when it comes to air travel. People living in Southwest Florida or visiting here will have more options starting later this year when Breeze Airways adds nine new routes to its growing portfolio of destinations originating from RSW (Southwest Florida International Airport) in Fort Myers.

Breeze Airways, which is based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, announced Tuesday that these new winter and spring seasonal nonstop routes from Fort Myers will begin in November. Fares will start from just $39 one way.

The special $39 one-way fare must be purchased by July 24, 2023 (11:59 pm ET), for travel by January 9, 2024.

Breeze Airways will offer these nine new routes from Fort Myers in November:

  • Akron-Canton, Ohio
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Louisville, Kentucky
  • New Orleans
  • Norfolk, Virginia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
  • Richmond, Virginia
  • Syracuse, New York

Get all the details about Breeze’s new flights on naplesnews.com.

Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086 to explore homes in the area.

Town of Big Cypress gets final approval from Collier County

Town of Big Cypress gets final approval from Collier County

Development to begin soon.

Laura Layden | Naples Daily News

A new town planned for rural Collier County has reached a pivotal moment.

In late June, county commissioners quietly signed off on the new town that’s been years in the making.

The creation of the town, known as Big Cypress, appeared on the board’s summary agenda, reserved for noncontroversial matters.

One frustrated environmentalist spoke against the development before it came to a swift vote.

The town – planned by Collier Enterprises – won final approval along with three unrelated, undisputed items, in one fell swoop, at a county commission meeting June 27.

A town and two villages
The town will connect two new villages planned by Collier Enterprises, known as Rivergrass and Bellmar. It will replace the developer’s third approved village, Longwater, with the addition of roughly 544 acres to its borders.

Centered in and around the two villages, the town will span more than 1,544 acres, off Oil Well Road, east of Golden Gate Estates.

Read the full article.

For new homes in the Naples, Collier County, Florida area, contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

Collier County real estate: Top-10 most expensive sold homes in June

Collier County real estate: Top-10 most expensive sold homes in June

Mark H. Bickel | Naples Daily News

A Naples home is No. 1 on the list for most expensive single-family property transfers in Collier County from June 1-30, 2023.

This home is located in the Pine Ridge neighborhood. It has six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. The house was last sold in 2012 for $570,000.

Following are the Top 10 real estate sales in Collier County recorded for June 2023:

1-705 Myrtle Road, Naples
List price: $14,499,000
Sold price: $14,000,000
Neighborhood/Subdivision: Pine Ridge
Size: 12,916 square feet
Year built: 2016
Days on market: 6
Amenities: Private Pool/Spa, Built-In Gas Fire Pit/Grill, Outdoor Kitchen
View: Landscaped Area

Read on for the next nine on the list.

To view homes currently for sale in Port Royal contact David at 239-285-1086 or David@DavidFlorida.com

 

Restaurants: 2 new in Naples, 3 chef changes

Restaurants: 2 new in Naples, 3 chef changes

…including a local Food Network cheftestant

Diana Biederman | Naples Daily News

Local restaurateurs are shaking things up this summer. A Peruvian restaurant in East Naples has a new owner who’s also the top chef there. The town’s (arguably) most famous punk-rock pizza purveyor trades barbecue at Bayfront for a new brew-focused concept. His chef from another venture is now at the new spot.

And we have three more chef moves making news at high-end hot spots in Naples.

Read all the chef changes on naplesnews.com.

Find a home in the Naples, Florida area! Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.